The Hammer of the Bat
by march4fun
Summary: Nora Valkyrie has seen some strange places before, but none of them quite as strange as this 'Gotham City'. What is going on at this Arkham Asylum, a crazy place with crazier people? Who is Batman, perhaps the one person who might be able to help her get back home? And, above all else... where is Ren! Hope to cover all of the Arkham games. Much Renora. Cover by fireflyonfire
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello everyone! I'm here throwing my hat in with the rest of the 'Arkham RWBY' crowd. Here are some adventures starring everybody's favorite pink berserker, Nora Valkyrie! Special thanks to my lovely beta, annbe11, as well as to Sai Kunai Blade for bringing me into this whole thing in the first place. With that, I hope you all enjoy _The Hammer of the Bat_.**

 **Chapter 1 – You're Not in Remnant Anymore…**

"Hey?" said a gruff voice. "Hey, kid? You alive?"

Nora groaned and raised one arm to bat away the questions.

"Five more minutes, Ren…" she said before snuggling back down onto her arm. "M'tired…"

"Okay, you're alive," the voice said again. "Just wanted to see if you could loot your corpse."

A statement like that managed to convince Nora that something was off and she needed to wake up to find out what it was. She gave a wide yawn as she struggled up to sit on her knees and she stretched her arms wide, wringing another yawn out of her.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around. After a moment, she rubbed her eyes and looked again.

No, she wasn't dreaming.

A moment ago, she and the rest of Team RNJR had been on an airship heading for Mistral. She had leaned against Ren and closed her eyes.

Now, things were different. Suddenly, she was in a weird city. Specifically, she was in an incredibly filthy alleyway with walls lined with overflowing trashcans and coated with peeling paint. The only other denizen of the alleyway was a scraggly bearded man wearing a threadbare coat.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," he said, giving her a gap-toothed smile. "You don't want to be hanging out in the open like that at this time of the night." He took a drink from something in a paper bag that he held. "However, with the amount of heat you're packin', I'd say that you have a better chance than most."

"Oh, thanks" Nora said, pushing herself to her feet and brushing off her skirt as well as dusting off Magnhild. "You like it? I made it myself. Took a lot of work."

"No foolin'? Wow. I'm impressed."

Nora beamed at the praise as she patted herself down. Not that she didn't trust the scruffy looking man that she had just met, but she wanted to make sure she had her all things. Scroll? Check. Wallet? Check. Compass? Check. Extra grenades? Check. Nora brushed a few more pieces of dirt off of Magnhild and strapped it to her back after giving the grip an affectionate pat. "Would you mind telling me where I am? I think I misplaced my team."

"Well, missy," said the bum, "you're in the one and only Gotham City, the very definition of the term 'shithole'."

"Kay…" Nora said, scratching the back of her head in confusion. "Well, if I'm here, they can't be too far."

But why would they leave her, she wondered. They had been heading to Mistral, but now they were in this 'Gotham City'. Nora hoped it was close to Mistral. Maybe she should check it out. No, wait, Ruby had the map. Jaune wasn't trusted with the map anymore and she had set the map on fire the last time she was asked to carry it. It totally wasn't her fault, though.

"I need to try and find Ren," she said. "He'll know what's going on."

The bum looked at her strangely.

"What's a 'ren'?" he asked.

"He's my best friend," she said, looking down both ends of the alleyway. "He's never far away from me. Have you seen a guy around wearing a green tunic and with long black hair?"

"Sorry, kid," the bum said with a shrug. "I ain't seen anyone like that."

A tiny hint of panic began to wiggle around in Nora's mind. She hadn't been separated from Ren since… since… she didn't even know how long! She clamped her eyes shut and stamped down on that thought. It was alright. Everything was fine. She could find Ren no problem. It would be just like hide and seek, or finding him during the Beacon Initiation. She would just use their signal. She forced a smile on her face and nodded to herself.

"I'll find him," she said, facing one wall with a fire escape and taking a few steps back.

"Just make sure you don't wander too much," the bum said. "A street gang called the Deacons are active this time of night and they really enjoy-"

He stopped when Nora took a few steps forward and leapt into the air, easily reaching the railing of the third floor landing. She swung herself onto the landing and looked down at the bum.

"…actually, I think you'll be fine," he finished.

"Thanks for your help, sir," she said. "I need to go find my friend. See you around." With that, she ascended the fire escape toward the rooftop. In moments, she was hopping across the rooftops of Gotham and shouting as loud as she could.

"Ren?!" Nora called. "Ren?! Where are you?! _Kurrr-ah! Kurrr-ah!_ " She bound across the tops of buildings, looking all over the streets. This was weird. She was using the signal. Why wasn't he responding?

A bit of movement in the corner of her eye made her look to the right at a gothic-style building, and she saw someone who might be able to help her. She took a running start and leapt across the street dividing the two buildings. After a few seconds of flying through the air, she slammed into the concrete side of the building and dug her fingers into the stone carvings, not caring that a gargoyle was cracking under her hand.

Her sudden arrival startled a woman hanging upside-down in front of one of the windows. She wore a tight leather bodysuit and a headpiece decorated with cat ears. She had been in the middle of using a device to cut a hole in the glass when Nora had suddenly arrived.

"Ah!" she yelped in surprise, almost dropping her device. The woman turned and stared at a panting Nora. There was a short pause where they only blinked at each other.

"Hi!" said Nora, smiling at the woman. The woman blinked.

"Um... hello?" she managed to say.

"I was hoping you could help me," said Nora. "I'm looking for my friend. His name is Ren. He's pretty tall, good-looking, probably wearing green, and has long black hair with a streak of pink in it. Have you seen him anywhere around here?"

The cat-themed woman blinked at Nora for a few more moments.

"Sorry, but no. I haven't seen anyone like that tonight."

"Oh, okay," said Nora, visibly deflating. She drew herself up after a moment and nodded at the woman. "Thanks anyway. Have a good night." Nora planted her feet on the wall and kicked off, sending herself flying back across the street where she had come from so she could continue her search.

The woman hung there in front of the window for a few more moments before she shook herself and returned to what she was doing.

"I swear this town gets weirder by the day…" she muttered to herself as she finished cutting into the window.

* * *

Nora was sitting on the edge of a building and trying to puzzle this whole situation out. She had searched for over an hour and there was no sign of Ren or any of her friends. She needed to find them and find out how they got here and why they left her. At the moment, she was trying a breathing exercise that Ren had tried to teach her on a few occasions. She had never gotten much use out of it but now seemed like a good time to try it out. Unfortunately, the exercise eventually broke down and Nora just started hyperventilating. She had no idea where she was, almost nothing about this place was familiar, and worst of all, Ren was nowhere to be found. This… this was starting to feel _wrong_.

"Where are you, Ren?" she whispered to herself as she looked out over the city and listened to the sounds of the urban night.

Her musings were cut short by the rumbling of her stomach. She hadn't had anything to eat since before the fight with the Nuckelavee, so she'd have to find something soon. The thought of digging through dumpsters for food brought back a host of… unpleasant memories for her, but she needed food and water. That was Survival 101.

As she was climbing to her feet and making a mental list of a few restaurants she had seen during her search, she suddenly heard the sound of gunfire. She spun to face the direction it was coming from and saw two groups of youths shooting at each other in an empty lot, both sides taking cover behind various derelict cars.

Despite the dreary situation, she found herself in, a small smile crossed Nora's face. The Ren Method for stress relief had failed her. It was time to give the Nora Method a try…

* * *

"Eat lead, Deacon!" shouted a young member of the Dragon's Claw as he fired his pistol at a member of the Deacons and hit nothing but asphalt.

"Seriously, Shorty?" said one of his comrades. "'Eat lead'? Why not just say 'Ah'm a blow ya away, see?' It's dumb."

"Well, what are you gonna say?" Shorty snapped, taking cover again as a Deacon started firing vaguely in their direction. "You got some sort of Death Threat Dictionary or something?"

"Well as a matter of fact-"

 _THUD!_

Everyone was silent as a small explosion was heard in the abandoned lot. Shorty slowly stood up and peeked over the hood of the bullet-riddled car.

There was now a small crater in the middle of the lot, and an orange-haired girl in a black jacket and pink skirt was kneeling in the middle of it. She slowly stood up and looked at all of them one by one, a terrifying smile on her face. She removed what looked like a grenade launcher from her back and spun it with a flourish. Before their eyes, the weapon changed form until it had transformed into a giant hammer.

"Okay boys…" she said before she began to spin the weapon around herself. She twirled it in circles, passed it from hand to hand, spun it around her neck and even tossed it up into the air like a drum major's baton before slamming it into the ground and making another crater. "Who's first?" she asked, still smiling that grin with too many teeth.

There were a few moments of silence.

" _NOPE!_ " every gang member said at once before turning and fleeing as fast as they could. In seconds, Nora was the only person in the lot. Her shoulders slumped and her head drooped.

"Aw man…" she whined as she transformed Magnhild back to its transport form and putting it on her back. "The Nora Method is a failure."

The sound of sirens suddenly rang out through the lot as a police cruiser maneuvered its way through one of the alley entrances. Nora grinned and waved as the vehicle came to a stop.

"Hey officers!" she said. "Don't worry. I took care of this, I guess."

Nora was very confused when two men climbed out and pointed handguns at her. The officer on her left was a heavyset man wearing a blue overcoat, a fedora, and a scowling expression. He held his gun with practice, but something about him said he was itching for a fight. The other officer was an older man with short greying hair. He had horn-rimmed glasses and wore a grey vest over a white shirt. He stood tall and held his pistol still, looking perfectly at ease.

"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!" the large one shouted at her. She blinked in surprise.

"Um, I think there's been a misunderstanding, officers." Nora said, slowly raising her hands up. Ever since that one time when they were eleven, Ren had specifically told Nora to _never_ fight with law enforcement. "You see, we're on the same side. I'm one of the good guys." She starting taking a few steps forward. She slowly reached for her pocket, making the movement obvious. "If you'd let me show you my-"

"I told you to drop the weapon and put your hands on your head! Now!" shouted the large policeman.

"Okay. Okay. I'm doing it," said Nora, watching the two men tense up as she slowly took Magnhild off of her back. She gently set her weapon on the ground and took a few steps away before putting her hands behind her head. The officer on her left hurried behind her and grabbed her hands before clicking handcuffs around her wrists. "Ow!" said Nora as the tight restraints closed on her.

"Holy hell, Gordon!" the arresting officer said, looking at Magnhild. "The kid's got a goddamn thump-gun!"

"My god…" the older man said as he holstered his gun and came closer. "What are you doing carrying artillery like this?"

"I have a permit for that," Nora said, not liking that her arms were being twisted at an uncomfortable angle.

"Bull crap," the larger man said as he dragged her toward the car. The other officer, an older man with greying hair and glasses, stepped forward to pick up Magnhild. Seeing her weapon in the hands of another person felt wrong, but she swallowed her apprehension.

"This thing is ridiculous," the older man, 'Gordon' she thought it was, said as he looked over the weapon. "This is leagues ahead of what we have. Even what the military has." He turned and gave her a hard stare. "You some private military contractor, kid? Are they recruiting out of high school now? Where did you get this?"

"I made it," said Nora, wrenching herself out of the other officer's grip so she could sit on the hood of the car. She stuck her tongue out at him, but he just growled at her.

"Easy, Harvey," Gordon said, putting a hand on the other man's shoulder. He turned his attention back to Nora. "What's your name kid?"

"Nora Valkyrie."

Harvey blinked at her.

"No, seriously," he said. She glared at him.

"My name is Nora Valkyrie," she said again.

"Alright then, Ms. Valkyrie," said Gordon, "mind telling us how you learned how to make this and where you got the materials?"

Harvey turned his gaze back to Gordon.

"Jim, you can't seriously think that-"

"Let the lady talk, Harvey," Gordon said, not taking his eyes off her.

"My friend Ren and I learned how to make weapons from a Huntsman in Mistral," she explained. "He was the one who recommended that we become Hunters and try to get into an Academy."

"So, what, you hunt animals with a goddamn grenade launcher?" Harvey asked.

"I hunt _monsters_ ," Nora corrected. "Y'know, the Grimm? The things trying to drive mankind to extinction."

"And of course she's a goddamn nutcase…" muttered Harvey. "On top of that, she carries a cannon around like it's a makeup kit."

"I told you guys that I have a permit for it. It's in my right coat pocket in my wallet." Nora angled her body toward them, inviting them to reach for the pocket. At a nod from Gordon, Harvey reached into the pocket and pulled out her wallet. He seemed confused by the lien cards in it before he flicked one of the plastic tabs to the side, showing her Huntress license and weapon's permit.

"'The holder of this card is entitled by the Kingdom of Vale to the carrying and use of an advanced Hunter's Weapon'? 'Combination grenade launcher/warhammer'? The hell is the crap?!" He tossed the wallet over his shoulder.

"No!" she cried, making to run after the wallet before Harvey pushed her back onto the car hood. "I worked hard to get that! That's important to me!"

"Bullock…" Gordon said, his voice almost a growl.

"C'mon Jim, you know that this-"

"Now," said Gordon. Harvey just threw his hands up in exasperation before turning around to retrieve the wallet. Gordon carried Magnhild in his right hand while he took hold of Nora's arm in his other hand in a firm, but careful grip. "We're going to take you down to the station to answer a couple questions."

"But I can't do that," Nora said, feeling a few more tinges of panic. "I need to find my friends. I need to find Ren. They're probably looking for me."

"If your story checks out and you make things easier on yourself, maybe we can help you with that," said Gordon. "Right now, I need you to get in the car and not make any fuss. Okay?"

"Okay," Nora sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Just promise me that you guys won't do anything to Magnhild." She pointed her elbow at the weapon in Gordon's hand. "I spent months planning and building that thing. It's got my blood, sweat, tears, and other fluids in it."

Gordon looked a little uncomfortable at that, but he didn't say anything. He opened the back door of the police car for her just as a muttering Harvey came up and roughly shoved the wallet back into her pocket. Harvey maneuvered her into the back seat as Gordon tossed Magnhild into the trunk. In moments, they were pulling out of the lot and driving down the dark Gotham streets.

 _I think I'm in trouble,_ thought Nora.

 **AN: And that's a wrap! Hope you guys liked it. Make sure to leave a review and tell me how I'm doing. Have a great day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey guys! Well, another season of RWBY has come and gone, but the fandom still thrives. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I know the next one is gonna be awesome! I've started school again and I'm caring for some ill grandparents (nothing worrying, thank god), so updates might be a little slower, though. I'll next be working on a chapter for Puddin and then RWBYS before I come back here for Chapter 3.**

 **As always, many thanks to my lovely beta annbe11.**

 **With that said, I hope you enjoy! Be sure to leave a review :)**

 **Chapter 2 – Crazy Town**

"Guys? I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since breakfast. Can we stop and get some food? Can we get some pancakes? Please?"

Officer Jim and Officer Bullock just kept their eyes on the road and ignored Nora's desperate pleas. She pouted as her stomach just growled even louder. Any longer without food and her stomach was going to start trying to digest itself. Nora huffed before leaning against the window, watching the city fly by as they drove. The drive was silent, interrupted only by short messages on Jim's police radio or honks from other cars on the road. Nora was focusing on the city, searching for anything at all that was familiar to her, but she saw nothing. Gotham City didn't match any place she had ever seen in Mistral and it looked nothing like the pictures Ren had found for her when they all had to write essays about other kingdoms for History class.

 _Ren._

Nora's foot started nervously tapping all on its own. She still had no idea of where Ren was. She also didn't know about the rest of her team, but she was mostly focused on Ren. As long as they found each other, she was sure that everything would be alright. Still, she had no way of doing anything to find him, only compounding the nervousness she was feeling. Her foot started tapping faster.

Eventually, the stress became too much and she needed a distraction. With a small jerk of her arms, the chain connecting her handcuffs snapped in half. Bracing herself against the divider between her and the officers, she started pulling herself through the small window in the divider.

"Can we turn on the radio?" she asked politely. "I'd like to hear some music."

"SON OF A BITCH!" shouted Harvey before he started blindly grabbing for his gun.

Jim didn't say anything, but he was so surprised that he jerked the wheel to the side, almost sending them into a parked car before he got their vehicle back under control. He skidded to the side of the road, even driving up onto the curb, before bringing the car to a stop. Then, for the second time in less than fifteen minutes, Nora found both police officers pointing guns at her.

"Okay, okay, we can leave the radio off," Nora said, holding her hands up in surrender.

"How did you get out?" Jim asked, looking like he was trying to keep everything calm. Nora just grinned and shook her arms, letting them see the broken halves of the handcuffs. "Damn…" he said.

"Do we have any bigger... stronger cuffs?" Bullock asked. Jim looked thoughtful.

"Not sure that would make much of a difference," he muttered. He turned his attention back to Nora. "You could have broken out and got away anytime you wanted, right?"

"Um, I guess so?" Nora said after some thought. Jim nodded and put away his gun.

"Stand down, Harvey," he said.

"Jim?! You can't seriously be thinking that this is in any way okay!" Bullock snapped, his face beginning to turn purple.

"Since the moment we arrested her, Nora has done nothing that would mark her as hostile to us. I don't think she means us any harm. We can relax."

Bullock obviously didn't like it, but he still put his gun down. Jim nodded to him and turned to Nora.

"You said your name was Nora Valkyrie, right?" Nora nodded, prompting him to pull a bulky laptop off of the dash and type her name into the search bar. The computer beeped, which made Jim frown in confusion. He tried a second time, but the beep came again.

"You're not in any of our records," he said, looking at Nora curiously.

"Well, I have citizenship in Vale, so that should help," she offered. The two officers just looked at her in confusion.

"…I actually don't think it will," Jim said, giving her an odd expression. "Tell you what, I know a guy who knows some people that can definitely help you get back to where you're from. Sound good?" Nora gasped and started nodding so fast her head became a blur.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" she cried happily. She froze when her stomach growled again, and she gave an embarrassed laugh. "Do you guys think we can get some food?" After a moment, Jim nodded.

"I think we can do that. It's early enough for the best donuts."

"Jim…" Bullock started to say before Jim glared at him.

"Harvey, do you think we can work to try and _not_ antagonize the friendly girl of unknown strength and temperament who is sitting in our police car?" Bullock took a long moment to think about this before he just looked forward and crossed his arms with a huff.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Go ahead and make friends with the girl who snapped your handcuffs." Jim just shot him a look before putting the car back in motion."

Minutes later, Jim had taken the car to a drive-thru donut shop and Nora was happily scarfing down a box of glazed donuts. They weren't nearly as good as pancakes, but she was happy to have something sweet.

Just as Nora was licking her fingers clean and thinking of asking if they could stop and get some more donuts, the police radio started squawking.

" _All cars, we have a Code 351 at City Hall. Repeat, Code 351 at City Hall. Witnesses say that The Joker has taken the mayor hostage and that he has a bomb. Be advised, witnesses state Batman is on-site."_

Bullock spat his mouthful of coffee onto the car's dashboard.

"The Joker?!" he coughed. "I thought he was still in Arkham!"

"Must have broken out early this month," Jim growled.

"What's going on?" Nora asked, poking her head through the divider window.

"You sit down!" Bullock snapped. Nora grumbled but sat in the back with her arms crossed. Bullock turned back to Jim. "Step on it, Jim! We need to get there as fast as we can!"

Jim turned the car down another street, but he showed no real sign of being in a hurry. Bullock looked like he was about to start shouting again before Jim cut him off.

"If I know anything about Batman," said Jim, "we should be hearing something right… about…"

A moment passed before the radio squawked again.

" _All available units, proceed to Gotham City Hall. The Joker has been apprehended. Batman is now en route to Arkham Island."_

"There we go," Gordon said with a grin. Bullock just huffed in annoyance.

"So, what now?" he asked as Jim brought the car into motion and took the next turn.

"Arkham," said Jim. "I need to oversee Joker's transfer back to custody. Plus, I think we need to talk to our big friend about our little friend here." Bullock shot a look at Nora before nodding in agreement.

"Who's 'The Joker'?" Nora asked. She grinned. "Is he someone that likes jokes and games and things like that?"

"Oh yeah, he does," Bullock said with a roll of his eyes, "as long as the punchline involves a dead body."

Nora felt a chill crawl up her spine.

"What?" she asked.

"Joker is one of, if not _the_ , most evil individuals in the world," said Jim as he glared at the road ahead of him. "On a whim, he will torture and kill dozens of people – _innocent_ people – because he gets a laugh out of it. It's our job to keep him in Arkham Asylum where he belongs."

After an explanation like that, Nora found herself in the odd predicament of having absolutely nothing to say. She just sat back and watched the city pass her by as they drove. The way Gordon had spoken about Joker made Nora think of the many evil people she had met over the past year. There was that scorpion man who had tried to take Ruby and the Cinder woman who had killed Pyrrha.

The thought of Pyrrha made Nora want to curl in a ball and pray for the days when monsters and midterms were the worst things she and her friends had to deal with.

Nora had worked very hard to put on a brave face for her teammates and to do what she could to help keep their spirits high, but she missed Pyrrha just as much as they did. Pyrrha was the first girl her own age that Nora had ever really connected with, and the thoughts of her death still made her heart break. Nora drew herself up and took a deep breath. Right now, she needed to focus on finding her teammates. She needed to find them so they could get to Mistral and track down Cinder.

Nora looked out the window again and was surprised to see that the landscape had changed dramatically. First of all, it had started to rain. Secondly, the city was gone while instead there was a dark and spooky forest lit only by flickering street lamps and flashes of lightning. As Nora looked around, she saw a large sign by the side of the road. It told her that Arkham was up ahead and also that "Hitchhikers may be escaping patients".

 _What kind of place are we going to?_ she thought to herself. She got her answer soon after as Jim drove through a black iron gate flanked by large hooded figures holding lanterns. As they made their way up the cobblestone driveway, Nora got her first look at Arkham Asylum. The enormous manor was practically dripping with gothic horror, with the lightning storm overhead, the eerily shaped structures, and the ominous clock tower at its center. The building itself looked like it was waiting to eat her or something.

"I've never seen a Grimm in building form," she muttered to herself, "but I bet that's what it would look like." She scooted closer to the divider window. "What is this place?" she asked.

"This is Arkham Asylum," said Bullock. "Gotham's looney bin."

"It's an insane asylum," added Jim. "People who are not mentally well get sent here with the hopes that they can be healed enough to rejoin society." She saw him roll his eyes at that.

"Wait…" she said in confusion, "they send people to a place looking like this to make them _less_ crazy?"

"In theory," said Gordon as he glared at the building ahead of him. "It's never worked very well, though."

"No kidding," Nora said as they pulled up close to the front door. "I think I'm going crazy just looking at this place." Jim turned the car off and both he and Bullock climbed out of the car before Jim opened the door for Nora and let her climb out. Nora idly looked down at the dangling cuffs on her wrists before shrugging and tearing them both off. She didn't miss Bullock's flinch, but Gordon's face stayed the same. The rain started coming down harder, so Nora pulled her jacket off and held it over her head. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"What's the plan, Gordon?" Bullock asked, eyeing Nora as he pulled up the collar of his trench coat.

"Let's head in," Jim answered, pulling on his own jacket. "We'll take care of Joker and make Nora's introduction to Batman. After that, we'll see where the rest of the night takes us." Jim opened the trunk and pulled out Magnhild. He shot Nora a stern look. "I'm going to keep a hold on this for a while. If your talk with Batman goes well and you prove yourself trustworthy, I'll make sure this gets back to you. Okay?" Nora nodded.

"Okay," she said. She didn't like being separated from her hammer, but she knew Ren would be mad at her if he found out she caused trouble with the police.

Just then, the radio squawked again.

 _"Car 428, please respond. Car 428, please respond. Over._ "

"What now?" Bullock grumbled as he leaned back into the car. He brought the radio to his lips. "This is Detective Bullock. What's the sitrep? Over."

 _"We have a 187 on Park Avenue. Suspected ties with the Penguin. You and Gordon are needed on site._ _Over._ "

"That might be hard, Dispatch," said Bullock. "Commissioner needs to oversee the Joker's processing. It's gonna take a while."

"Why don't you go on ahead, Harvey," Jim said. "You can link up with Montoya and I can call in for a ride when I'm done here." Bullock nodded before relaying the information to the operator. Jim turned to her and motioned toward the door. "Let's get out of the rain," he said.

There was a large and imposing metal door ahead of them, but it opened as the two of them stepped up to it. They were in a long hallway with armed and armored men lining both walls, all of them wearing face guards and wielding assault rifles. Nora paused to shake her jacket dry before putting it back on.

"Does this place really need so much security?" she asked quietly. Jim leaned close to her ear.

"Arkham Asylum holds some of the most dangerous individuals in Gotham and the surrounding area," he answered. "It also has a fairly high breakout rate, so, if you ask me, the security's not tight enough." He stood up straight and began walking down the hallway. The men flanking the room nodded to him, but they kept their eyes firmly on the door the two of them had entered from.

Nora and Jim reached the end of the room, where they were met by a small group of people. Three were dressed in the uniforms of security guards while the last, an aging bald man, wore a wrinkled suit, a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, and carried a cane.

"Commissioner Gordon," he said, holding his hand out.

"Warden Sharp," Jim said, shaking the offered hand. "Looks like we're in for a long night."

"Quite," the warden said with a nod. "My men and I will make sure that the clown is processed posthaste." Warden Sharp seemed to notice Nora for the first time and he blinked in surprise. "And what is your name, young lady?"

"Nora Valkyrie," she answered, smiling and holding out her hand for the man to shake. She noticed a fair amount of hesitation before he shook her hand.

"And what brings you here?" Warden Sharp asked her. Nora opened her mouth but paused to think about it. She tapped her chin in contemplation.

"I think I'm still under arrest, but I'm not sure anymore." She turned to Jim. "Am I still under arrest?" Warden Sharp sputtered while the guards behind him shifted their grips on their weapons. A particularly unfriendly guard with a scar across his eye seemed to snarl at her.

"Commissioner, why is this child under arrest?" Warden Sharp demanded, rounding on Jim.

"Child? I'm eighteen!" groaned Nora. The two men ignored her.

"She caused a disturbance downtown and she was found with a deadly weapon," Jim said, holding up Magnhild for emphasis. "She's strong enough to break her handcuffs, but she's been very agreeable so far. She seems lost, so I figured that it would be best to introduce her to Batman."

"I… I see," Warden Sharp said with a nod before waving to the large metal door behind him. "You can go through Intensive Treatment toward Patient Processing. Batman will meet you there when he arrives. Do make sure she stays out of trouble."

With that, Warden Sharp fixed his attention back on the metal door, his hands clenching and unclenching around his cane. Nora took it that they had been dismissed, so she followed Jim through the door marked _Intensive Treatment._ They took an elevator down to the bottom floor of a large open room and made their way down a long corridor.

"This place has some nifty security," Nora said, eyeing the countless security cameras and electric gates that lined the hallway.

"Just recently got upgraded," Jim said. "We'll see how well it works out." Nora nodded and they both walked in silence for a little longer.

"Who's Batman?" Nora asked. "I remember hearing about him over the radio and that the warden mentioned him, but I don't know who he is."

"Batman is a vigilante in Gotham," Gordon answered. "He first showed up over ten years ago and he's been fighting crime and imprisoning villains for all that time. He doesn't always act within the law, but I trust him. He's a good man and a good friend, even if he can be a little intimidating at times. He's the best fighter I've ever seen and he's also a brilliant detective. He's saved my life more times than I would like to admit."

"He sounds cool," Nora said with a smile on her face. "I can't wait to meet him." She gained a bounce in her step at the thought of meeting this Batman, making Jim chuckle. "What's up?" she asked as they stepped into an elevator.

"You remind me of my daughter when she was your age," he said wistfully. "She was always really excited about Batman, but at first I was too stubborn to listen to her about it. She and Batman eventually won me over, though. She's working as a software programmer in the city right now, but I know she always wanted to be a cop."

"I've wanted to be a Huntress for as long as I can remember," Nora said with a smile as the elevator started descending. "I can understand the need to do some good."

"About that," said Jim, looking curious. "You said you and your team hunted monsters, right? What do you mean by that?"

"The Creatures of Grimm, of course," she said. After a moment of thought, she shot him a glance. "By the way, what kinds of protection does this city have? Based on what I've seen of the city, you guys should be up to your eyeballs in Grimm by now. How are you guys doing so well?" Now Jim just looked confused.

"We've, um, never had any problems with any of these 'Grimm'. I don't think they're anywhere around here."

"But Grimm are always everywhere," Nora said, now looking even more confused. Jim scratched the back of his head and looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Nora, I don't want to jump to any conclusions, so I think we should just leave this subject for when Batman arrives."

"Oh. Okay then."

By now, they had reached an area that looked like a waiting room. A tired looking woman sat behind a counter surrounded by what looked like bulletproof glass. She looked up when they entered and gave Jim a small smile.

"Good evening, Commissioner," she said.

"Good evening, Deborah," Jim said. "I'm signing the Processing papers for the Joker again."

"I see," she said, grabbing some files and putting them on a clipboard. "I just got word that Batman has arrived with the Joker in custody. They should be down here shortly."

"Good," said Jim as he took a pen from a plastic cup on the counter. "I'd like to get this done quickly. Nora, why don't you take a seat?"

Nora nodded and took a chair against the wall while Jim started signing papers. He looked like he was only barely paying attention, as if he had done this so often he was running on autopilot. With what he had told Nora earlier, she considered, he probably was.

That didn't really seem fair. Whenever Nora tried sleepwriting her papers, she always just got an F because the teachers didn't like it when she ended up drawing pictures of her and Ren eating pancakes, no matter how detailed they were.

 _Maybe I should have tried drawing something other than pancakes_ , she pondered.

Nora was jolted from her thoughts by the sound of a loud, sharp cackle coming from the hallway she and Jim had entered through. The mere sound of that laughter was enough to make her hair stand on end. Back over by the desk, Jim sighed as he finished signing the paper.

"Well," he said, "there they are."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Welcome to the Madhouse

 **AN: Hello everyone! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry this took so long. Things have been really crazy this summer. As always, many thanks to my lovely beta, annbe11, for turning my babblings into readable material.**

 **On another note, if any of my readers have an interest in the Tiger's Curse book series, definitely check out annbe11's enjoyable fanfic Tiger's Circus. It's a reimagining of the backstory of the book's hero and a rewrite of the first 8 chapters. Do your self a favor and give it a look.**

 **With that, on with the show!**

"Oh, come on, Bats," said the Joker with a sick smile, "you have to admit it was a little funny!" He let out a loud cackle as his gurney was pushed out of the elevator, heedless of the six assault rifles that were following his every move.

Batman just glared silently and followed behind the procession of insanity. They were coming into the office of Intensive Treatment. In a few more minutes, Joker would be back in custody and this night would be over. When Batman caught sight of the man signing papers at the desk, he felt himself relax a slight amount. As Joker's gurney was wheeled to the side of the room, Batman strode toward his ally on the police force.

"Long night, Gordon?" he asked. The police commissioner smiled at him before finishing one last signature and handing the clipboard back to the receptionist.

"You could say that," Gordon answered, shaking Batman's hand. "It's been a helluva night, and for more reasons than just… him."

Batman furrowed his brow, thinking over all the events of the night. What could Gordon mean? He hadn't heard anything noteworthy aside from the Joker and a short-lived gang fight. Before Batman could ask, Gordon inclined his head over his shoulder, drawing Batman's attention. Batman followed his gaze and saw, to his surprise, a short teenage girl sitting down and watching them with rapt attention, but her eyes were mostly focused on him.

"Who is that?" Batman asked. She looked much too young to be in a place like this.

"The girl's name is Nora. Nora Valkyrie," said Gordon. "Bullock and I picked her up about a half hour ago for causing a public disturbance. She was armed with this." With a great deal of effort, Gordon lifted a large rotary grenade launcher and held it out.

Batman took it in his hands and turned on his cowl's optic sensors, scanning the weapon before him. A cursory look showed it was incredibly complex, with a large number of moving parts made of a metal that his scans had no records of. The grenades themselves were also unusual, with all of them seemingly filled with a powder that his cowl could not find a match for.

A new kind of chemical weapon? he wondered to himself.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Batman said at last, looking up at Gordon and handing him back the weapon. "Any idea where she got it?"

"Kid claims that she made it herself," Gordon answered. "On a side note, she's strong enough to snap a pair of handcuffs just by shrugging her shoulders, so I bet she could use this baby with no problems." Batman shot another look at Nora, who was now looking bored and slouching in her chair.

"So you're handing her over to me?" he asked. "If she was found with a weapon like this, she should be on her way to a specialized holding cell, not being allowed to walk around freely."

"She's been nothing but pleasant ever since we slapped the cuffs on her," Gordon said with a shrug. "She could have broken out anytime she wanted, but she stuck with us." He too glanced over at Nora. "If you ask me, she just seems like a good kid who's really, really lost." Gordon crossed his arms and glanced at Batman. "I figured, with the sheer amount of wackos you've got at the League, you might be able to at least find someone to help her out.

Batman frowned and looked at Nora a second time and saw her in a new way. He tried to imagine the various possible scenarios, if this girl's story was to be believed. She could be an alien, but he had no idea from where. Amazon was another possibility, but her weapon was far too advanced for that to be likely and, even if she were an Amazon, she looked like she would still be at training age. He made a mental note to head straight for Diana when they were done here.

As Batman observed her fidget in her seat, his gaze started to soften. If this girl was telling the truth, she was just a kid who had no idea where she was and no idea how to get home. She would probably need all the help she could get. He let out a long breath through his nose.

"Once we get Joker locked up, I'll see what I can do for her," he said. Gordon smiled and nodded thankfully.

"Hey, Nora," Gordon said over his shoulder, making the girl snap up straight in her chair. "Come on over here. Got someone for you to meet."

Nora boosted herself to her feet and walked up to them, a wide toothy smile on her face.

"Hi!" she said, waving to Batman. "I'm Nora. You must be that Batman guy Jim was talking about. Man, you are really committed to this whole bat theme." She stuck her hand out and somehow managed to smile even wider. Batman blinked for a moment before taking her hand.

"I am," he said. "I understand you've lost your way. Once we're done with the Joker, I can get in contact with some people who might be able to help."

"Awww. Batsy, you really do care about the little people! I'm touched, really."

Batman grit his teeth and looked over his shoulder. The Joker had been taken off of his gurney and was now in handcuffs and being manhandled by guards. Joker locked his eyes on Nora and his grotesque smile seemed to grow even larger.

"Oh ho ho! What's this then, Jimmy-Boy? Did you get yourself another ginger kid? Not that I blame you." He gave a dramatic shrug. "I mean, I kinda broke the last one."

Batman moved in an instant, holding his arm out to block Gordon at the same time the commissioner lunged at Joker, probably intent to tear him limb from limb. Gordon's face was turning purple with rage while Joker just laughed as he was led down the hall.

"Jim, don't," Batman said calmly. "It won't change anything."

"It would sure as hell make me feel better!" Gordon snarled.

"You know Barbara wouldn't want to wake up to hear you'd done something like that," Batman said. That statement seemed to take the wind out of Gordon's sails and he slumped where he stood. "Are you calm?" The man took a deep breath before he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm calm."

"Good." Batman lowered his arm. "We should get moving. We want to make sure this goes smoothly."

Batman turned to Nora and thought for a moment. Arkham Asylum was not a particularly safe place for a girl her age, no matter how heavily armed she may be, but she remained a wild card and he didn't want to leave her unsupervised. If Gordon was right and she was really that strong, she would have no trouble at all incapacitating any guards left to watch her and then be able to run wild. With a slight feeling of apprehension, Batman made his decision.

"I need you to stay close," he told her. "This is a very dangerous place, but I'll figure out a way to help you once we get out of here. Agreed?" Nora smiled and nodded.

"Agreed!" she said in a chipper tone of voice.

With that, the three of them turned and followed Joker and his handlers. Batman's gaze never wavered from the insane clown. All of his attention was focused on Joker, reading his movements and waiting for the very first hint that he was about to try something.

Until, that is, he felt Nora tugging on his cape. His head snapped around and he glared at her, but she just continued pulling at it.

"What's this made of?" she asked, glancing up at him. "It doesn't feel like fabric. Is it some magic vampire cloth?"

Batman grabbed a fistful of his cape and yanked it out of her hands, glaring at her all the while.

"I'm not a vampire," he snarled.

"Oh. Okay," said Nora, smiling and nodding at him. Batman narrowed his eyes at her, but turned and continued following the Joker. He was sadly aware of how Gordon was trying to cover his laughter with a suspicious fit of coughing.

The procession continued down the hall before they reached a room of holding cells. Batman could already see the inmates contained inside, as well as the clown tattoos they all sported.

I don't like this, he thought to himself. What had caused the fire at Blackgate Prison? Why had so many of Joker's henchmen been moved here like it was no problem? Most of all, where in the world was Harley Quinn? She almost never left Joker's side unless he had beaten her up and thrown her out, and even then it was only for short lengths of time.

As everyone came up to the first of the new electrified gates, a security guard and doctor stood waiting for them.

"Hold it right there," said the guard, holding his hand out. "Sorry, Batman, but this area is for Arkham staff only."

"I assure you," said Gordon, "if anyone here is qualified, it's-"

"Commissioner, I appreciate what he does," interrupted the guard, "but he might upset some of the more violent inmates. Also, this is no place for a girl of her age." He gave a long look at Nora, causing the girl to cross her arms and pout.

"I'm eighteen…" she grumbled under her breath.

The Joker laughed as he was dragged toward the gate.

"Don't worry about a thing, Bats!" he chuckled. "I think I've got it from here. You can get back to your little babysitting gig with Short Stack over there." The gate shut down and the guard and doctor ushered him through. "Gotta say, though. It's good to be home."

Batman's hands curled into fists as Joker was led away, giggling to himself. Gordon noticed his tension.

"You alright?" he asked.

"He surrendered almost without a fight," said Batman, "and it seems like most of his crew is here. I don't like it." Batman moved into the observation booth, never letting his eyes leave Joker's back through the inch-thick glass.

He's up to something, Batman thought to himself. I'm sure of it.

His suspicions were correct.

In the middle of the holding area, Joker suddenly head-butted the guard leading him and wrapped the chain of his handcuffs around the man's neck.

"Hurry!" he shouted with glee. "We're losing him, doc!"

"Joker's loose!" snapped Batman as he slammed his fist into the window. "Get word to the Warden."

Batman was rearing his fist back to strike the glass a second time when there was the sound of a scuffle behind him.

"Nora?! What are you-?"

"Sorry, Jim! I need this! Comin' through, Bats!"

Batman barely had time to leap out of the way before Nora streaked past him, cradling her grenade launcher in her arms while leveling her shoulder at the window. His eyes widened as she made contact with it. Not only did the window shatter, but the entire wall exploded outward as she plowed straight through, almost like it wasn't even there. She rolled to a crouch as she landed in the holding area and looked up, smiling at the stupefied Joker, who was crouched over the coughing guard.

"Well," he said, "that's new." He suddenly released his hostage and made a break for the far side of the room. "Harley! Door!"

Just like that, the electric gate turned off and Joker practically dove through the opening before it closed again. Joker stepped to the side into the control room as Nora was helping the doctor and guard to their feet. Batman, shaking off his surprise at her sudden display, followed into the Holding Area.

"Well, then," said Joker's voice over the PA system, "after that little interruption to our regularly scheduled maiming, it's time to get this show on the road. Coming to you all the way from Blackgate Correctional Facility with a combined sentence of 1,593 years, we have… these guys!"

A bell rang as all of the nearby cells suddenly opened, allowing the prisoners within to walk free. Each of them looked angry and violent. Some even had clown makeup tattooed on their faces. All of them had cruel expressions as they surrounded Batman, Nora, and the two cowering staff members.

"Bring it on, boys!" Nora laughed, twirling her grenade launcher over her head before it abruptly transformed into a warhammer. She gave all of the suddenly less confident inmates a smile with too many teeth.

"She's got a hammer!" one of the inmates cried in alarm.

"And I'm not afraid to use it!" said Nora with another laugh. Batman got into a fighting stance, putting himself at her back.

"Just disable them," he said, closely watching the criminals. "No killing."

"Sure, fine," said Nora with a smile. "I know how to be gentle…ish."

She didn't give the inmates another moment to plan and lunged forward. She was fast. The first convict didn't even have the time to react before the pommel of her hammer shaft cracked against his head, sending him to the floor without another word. Another convict behind her tried a clumsy charge before she kicked him in the stomach and left him retching on the floor.

Batman would have watched longer but two other inmates charged at him and he became otherwise occupied.

After he punched one of them hard in the jaw and sent the other sprawling to the floor before twisting his leg, a third tried to hit him with a wild haymaker before Batman ducked under the strike and punched him in the groin. As the thug fell to the ground with a whimper, Batman shot another glance up at Nora and suddenly found himself staring. Nora had already incapacitated three inmates and was currently holding a fourth in a choke hold and giving him a vicious noogie with her free hand. She looked up, saw him staring, and released the man an instant before punching him to the ground and sending him into unconsciousness.

"Well… these guys weren't so tough. Where's the real challenge?"

"Ohoho Bats, I like this one!" The Joker said over the PA.

Batman spun to face the other observation post, but it was empty. He was gone. Suddenly, every TV in the room suddenly changed to security camera footage of the Joker, staring out of the screen as if he were actually looking at them.

"I mean, that hammer alone would turn Harley as green as that plant lady! And did you see her smile during that fight? Oh Batsy, what fun we are going to have tonight!"

"Batman!" came the shout from Gordon. He was busy helping the guard and the doctor up into the observation point through the giant hole Nora had made. "The system's jammed," he said. "We can't get a message out and we can't access the security measures."

"That is exactly correct, Jimbo!" the Joker laughed. "Arkham Asylum is mine now. I'm the one in control here. None of you get to go anywhere I don't want you to. Understand?"

Batman glared at the TV screen as his fingers curled into fists.

"If you think I'm just going to let you run away…"

"Run? Really? Oh no, Bats, I'd never run from this. I'm having far too much fun right now!" He threw his head back and cackled before returning his focus to Batman. "Why don't you and your new sidekick just come find me? That way, we can really get this party started!"

The TV footage suddenly cut out and the electric gate shut down, practically beckoning Batman to follow the clown's trail.

"You know it's a trap, right?" asked Gordon.

"Of course it is," said Batman.

"So, are we still going to follow him?" asked Nora.

Batman glanced down at her. She had collapsed her hammer down into a more compact form and strapped it to her back, but was now looking up at him expectantly.

"No," he answered bluntly. "I'm going after him. You're going to stay here. It's safer than what's further into the facility."

"What?!" Nora demanded. "But… but… you saw what I can do! You know I can help."

"I don't need help," Batman said before turning away from her.

He had taken only a few steps before he felt her tug on his cape for the second time. He had been expecting it, however, and spun around to grab her hand before jerking her to the side. Suddenly off-balance, she stumbled in the direction he led her, sending her falling into one of the now-empty holding cells before Batman hit a button on the nearby control panel, slamming the steel door closed.

"Seriously?!" she yelled from inside. Batman saw her hands grip the bars of the tiny window before she tried to boost herself up to look through it. Her eyes just barely reached the lip of the window. "I just want to help you and do my job!"

"Jesus Christ, Batman!" came the shout from Gordon. Batman turned to face the angry commissioner. "She's just a kid."

"Exactly," Batman said. "She's also an unknown variable in all of this. I don't need her slowing me down while I-"

BOOM!

Batman jumped and spun to look at the metal door to the holding cell, which was now visibly bending outward. Another boom came as the door bent even further, straining against its hinges and locks. With a third boom, the door snapped free of its housing and tumbled to the ground, leaving Nora standing inside the cell and looking at Batman with a smile. Keeping himself on guard, Batman spared a moment to glance down at the door, restraining his surprise at seeing clear indents of fists pressed into the metal. He looked up at Nora suspiciously.

"Are you a Kryptonian?"

Nora blinked for a moment before rocking her head from side to side, giving a 'so-so' gesture with her hands.

"Not particularly. I mean, they taste fine, most Atlesian foods do, and they go well with jam, but I prefer pancakes. Much fluffier and ten times tastier."

Batman blinked, not really sure how to respond to a statement like that. Schooling his features, he stepped up to Nora while reaching for a small, lead-lined compartment on his utility belt. He opened it and removed a shard of crystal, glowing green in the dim asylum lights. He held the shard of Kryptonite up to Nora's face. Her eyes followed it, fascinated.

"Wow," she said in amazement. "You guys have Dust? I've never seen a green kind before. That's so cool! What does it do?"

Batman considered this development, not letting anything show on his face. He was frantically trying to come up with a solution for the current situation. The girl displayed incredible strength and fighting ability, despite her age, but he had no idea what she was or where she was from. She clearly wasn't Kryptonian, as shown by her lack of reaction to the Kryptonite, but she could likely overpower every attempt to restrain her that he was capable of performing at this given time, not to mention her determination to aid him in this endeavor.

Batman had a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Fine," he snapped, returning the Kryptonite to his belt. Nora blinked.

"Fine what?"

"You can come with me. Just stay close and don't slow me down."

Nora's face suddenly split into a huge grin and she snapped a playful salute.

"Aye aye, sir! Now let's get going! The faster we catch this clown, the faster you can help me find Ren and my friends."

The girl grabbed onto his arm and started dragging the Dark Knight down the hall where Joker had fled. As Batman was pulled along, he could feel Gordon's smug gaze digging into his back.

He only hoped he hadn't made a wrong choice with this girl.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello everyone! I bring forth another chapter of this crazy crossover. I just saw the new episode of RWBY V.6 and I absolutely loved it! I have a good feeling about this volume.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed this story. Your feedback gives me life. Please keep doing it!**

 **Before we start, I have two shameless plugs. First, I am writing another RWBY story called RWBYS: Blood is Thicker. It's an OC-centric reimagining of the RWBY series that I'm hoping a few of you might find interesting.**

 **Second, my lovely beta annbe11, without whom I would not be typing these words, is writing a very entertaining Tiger's Curse fanfic called Tiger's Circus. If you're a fan of the series, definitely give that a look.**

 **With that, on with the show!**

 **Chapter 4 – Not According to Plan**

Nora had been feeling pretty good about the night so far, such as it was. She had met some police officers who proved themselves to be nice enough to help her out, she got to eat some very tasty donuts, and she had met a man who everyone was sure could help her find Ren. All she had to do was help Batman track down an evil clown and she would be back with her friends in no time.

That optimistic feeling lasted only until she saw the Arkham security guards lying in pools of their own blood.

Nora swallowed down the bile that tried to climb up her throat. She had lived in the wilderness of Remnant for years with Ren. She had seen death before, and in ways much more gruesome than this. Still, death would never be something she would get used too.

"Wherever Joker goes, death is sure to follow," said Batman as he stood next to her. "We have to keep moving." He turned and ran down the corridor, leaving Nora to follow.

For a few moments, the TVs spaced around the hall played some sort of orientation video before alarms started blaring.

" _Warning. Security breach in level B3._ _"_

" _Warning. Security breach in level B2."_

Two thugs jumped out of hiding as Batman and Nora turned the corner, but they both went down from a single punch to the face. Nora and her ally barely even slowed down.

" _Warning. Security breach in level B8."_

" _Warning. Security breach in-"_

"Okay! We get it! Things are bad!" Nora shouted at the PA speakers. They continued their message anyway, heedless of her opinion.

"Batman, over here!"

The both of them looked down the hall where an Arkham security guard was waving them. His face looked like he'd just tried to go five rounds with Yang Xiao Long, but he seemed to be doing okay, all things considered.

"Are you alright?" Batman asked as they reached the guard.

"I've been worse," the guard said, rubbing at his split lip. "What happened?"

"Joker happened," said Batman. "You're lucky to be alive."

"He must have gone this way. The door's jammed," he said, pointing at the giant metal door over his shoulder. He seemed to finally notice Nora and gave her a look of confusion. "Who's the kid?"

"Someone who's helping," said Batman before Nora could open her mouth to answer. The guard looked like he wanted to ask more questions but his radio suddenly crackled to life.

" _We need help in Pacification. I repeat, we need help in Pacification. Zsasz is loose! We need backup!"_

"I can read you," said the guard. "I'm with Batman. Help is on the way."

"Where are they?" asked Nora. The guard gave her a look for a moment before answering.

"They're back at the opposite end of the hall. You've gotta hurry if you're going to stop him."

Batman took off running down the hall without another word, with Nora running alongside him. Nora looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"What's the deal with this guy we're getting? His name is really Zsasz?"

"Yes," said Batman. "He's a psychotic serial killer I've had to put away multiple times. As long as he's out, no one on this island is safe." When the two of them reached the end of the hallway, Batman suddenly slowed to a walk and put his fingers to his right ear. "Oracle, can you hear me?"

Nora blinked.

"Um, my name is Nora."

"Not you," Batman said. He paused for a long moment. "Just some help I picked up here at the asylum. … No, not quite yet. … An incredibly complex weapon and some enhanced strength. I may need you to do a scan soon. What's going on here is that Joker has escaped custody. He's running loose on Arkham Island and he's set his crew free. … Don't worry, the commissioner is safe. Joker's not far ahead. Stand by for the sample." Batman lowered his hand and turned to Nora. "Nora, show me your arm."

"Um, okay," Nora said, hesitantly holding her arm out to him. "Who were you talking to?"

"Oracle," he said, taking hold of her wrist. "She's my technical support. She feeds me useful info while I'm in the field. This might sting a bit."

"What might- YOWCH!" cried Nora. She snatched her hand back as Batman raised a small syringe filled with her blood. She rubbed at the tiny wound and glared at Batman. "What was that for?!"

"I'm being thorough," said Batman as he snapped the syringe in a small compartment of his gauntlet. "Come on. Zsasz needs to be stopped."

line

A short time later, they both tried to keep out of sight as they glanced down at Zsasz. The escaped patient stood behind a guard strapped to an electric chair, holding the trigger device in his hand.

"Keep away," he almost purred to the guards before him, "or this little piggy fries." He delicately tapped his thumb against the button in his hand.

Batman and Nora ducked back into their cover as the guards below did their best to convince Zsasz to stand down. Nora tightened her fist as Batman looked at her.

"Okay," he said quietly, "we need to take him down before he has the chance to kill the guard. We'll need a plan."

"Cool," she said with a nod. "I'll go right, you go left. Let's go!" Standing up, she dashed from cover at the railing before her. She hopped up onto the railing before propelling herself at the right-side wall of the room. She planted her feet on the wall and turned to face Zsasz. He had apparently seen her move and was beginning to turn in her direction. She had one shot at this. Gritting her teeth in determination, she shoved herself off the wall. For a moment she rocketed through the air before colliding with Zsasz, knocking him to the ground and sending the trigger device rolling across the floor. She pushed herself off of Zsasz as he finally looked up at her, his face drawn with pain and confusion.

"Hiya," she said with a grin before punching him in the face and knocking him unconscious. She bounced to her feet and looked back at the slack-jawed guards. "Cleanup on aisle five!" she called. Turning her attention to the captive guard, she casually tore his bindings off as a man with a medical kit finally ran up to them. She heard a swooshing sound before turning to find Batman glaring down at her. She met his eyes, jutted her chin out, and put her hands on her hips. "You missed your cue," she told him.

" _You_ ran into a situation without thinking," he shot back. "If you were even an instant slower, he could have killed that guard and possibly you as well."

"Nothing bad happened, Batman. Besides, I could have taken him in a straight fight. I can handle myself."

"Are you sure?" Batman said darkly. He waved his hand in the direction of Zsasz. "What do you see?"

Nora turned to look at the downed patient and her eyes widened. The man was wearing a pair of shorts, torn bindings on his limbs, and a heavy collar around his neck. Every inch of his exposed skin was covered with tally marks carved into his flesh. Nora found herself taking a step back in horror.

"Each of those marks represents a life Zsasz has taken," said Batman. "Men, women, children, even officers of the law are among their number. Zsasz is a remorseless killer who can kill as easily as other people breathe." Batman's eyes narrowed. "I have experience with these individuals. I've been fighting them for years. If we're going to stop the Joker, you'll need to follow my orders."

Nora stared at the prone man, images flashing through her mind of what he must have done. For a moment, she felt like she would vomit. This was not what she had been expecting her night to be like. She was supposed to be in Mistral with Ren and her friends. She wasn't supposed to be locked in this asylum and up to her elbows in crazy people.

She was broken from her thoughts when Batman demanded that the guards put Zsasz back in his cell. A few guards came down to restrain Zsasz and take care of their coworker.

An instant later, an entire wall of TV screens suddenly flickered into life, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. As the image came to life, Nora was surprised to find herself staring at a woman's chest in some sort of corset that left little to the imagination.

" _Can you hear me?_ " the owner of said corset said over the TV as the camera bobbed too and fro. " _Is this thing on?_ "

The picture finally straightened and the speaker backed away from the camera, revealing herself to be a curvy woman wearing clown makeup while dressed in a nurse-inspired corset and skirt. Nora thought she would look right at home at those weird toy shops in Vale that Ren would just drag her away while blushing.

The woman on the TV smiled as she looked out at the two of them.

" _Hiya, B-man! Harley Quinn here. How do you like my new uniform?_ " She turned in place to show off her entire outfit. " _Pretty hot, huh?_ "

"Eh," Nora said with shrug. "It's alright, I guess, but it looks like it would fall off if you tried to fight in it."

Harley blinked for a moment before glaring through the TV at Nora.

" _Who_ _'s the twerp, B-man? Your new sidekick? Certainly can't get any worse than Bird Brain, that's for sure._ " After a moment she blinked before her expression became excited. _"Oh! That's right. I got something to show you. One second, B-man!_ " She dashed off camera until a moment later they saw Warden Sharpe pushed into view on a chair he was duct taped to. He tried to say something, but the piece of tape over his mouth kept him silent.

"Oh, that's not good," said one of the guards from behind them. Nora found herself nodding in agreement. Harley strutted back into the camera view and threw an arm around the captive Warden.

" _I_ _'m now subbing for the old man! Old Sharpey here has never been happier."_ She grinned and placed a loud kiss on his forehead, which he tried to squirm away from. " _In case you didn_ _'t notice, B-man_ " she continued, turning her attention back to the camera, " _today is Mistah J_ _'s big homecoming, and_ you're _the guest of honor!_ "

"You have one chance to surrender, Quinn," Batman growled, glaring at the screen.

Harley pretended to give it some thought while she twirled around a cane that Nora recognized as Sharpe's.

" _Tempting, Bats,_ " she said with a grin, " _but no dice. Now the inmates are running the asylum. Well, technically it_ _'s Mistah J's boys shipped in from Blackgate, but you get the idea._ " She waved to them. " _We just need to get a few more things prepped, but we_ _'ll let you know when we're ready for you and your plus-one. Bye bye for now!_ " She lashed out with the cane, striking the camera and causing the screen to turn to static.

"Hmm," said Nora, putting her hands on her hips. "She doesn't seem so tough."

"Harley Quinn is the Joker's girlfriend," said Batman. "Don't let her appearance fool you. She can be just as dangerous as he can."

Nora gave another skeptical glance at the television static.

"If you say so," she responded.

Batman went silent before putting his fingers to his ear and taking a few steps away.

"Oracle, I'm here," he said.

Nora decided to leave him to his own conversation and instead investigate the room. The Arkham staff were all either taking care of the guard who almost got electrocuted, keeping their guns trained on the now-restrained Zsasz, or fussing with something at the entrance of the room. Nora drifted closer to this last group where she heard the system had been locked down, trapping them in this room.

"Guess we'll need another way," she said to herself, looking around the room. An air vent was set into the wall close to the TV screens, looking big enough for someone to crawl through. "Clearly," she said to herself, "the people who built this place have never seen movies before." With a sharp metallic tearing sound, Nora ripped the cover off of the air vent and tossed it aside.

"We need to get moving."

"AHH!" shrieked Nora as Batman seemed to materialize right behind her. "Don't do that!" she snapped, stamping her foot in anger. Batman just brushed past her and entered the air vent. Nora crawled in after him.

After making a few turns through the vents, Nora asked "So Batman, what did your Oracle have to say?"

"Joker has isolated the Asylum from the information grid and he's made threats that he'll detonate bombs all across Gotham if the authorities don't stay away."

"That sounds scary," she said, feeling a shudder go down her back.

"It's a bluff," Batman said. "He's stalling. That means we have to find out what he's doing and put a stop to it. Fast."

The two of them came to the end of the duct, where another vent cover looked out into the hallway where they had found that guard from earlier. Nora could even see him still working to get the door open. Batman slammed his foot into the vent cover, sending it skidding across the room. The guard cried out in shock, but relaxed when Batman dropped to the floor.

"Good to see you, Batman," he said, turning back to the door controls. "I've almost got this thing working."

"I could try breaking it down if you want," Nora said as she hopped down from the vent.

"No," Batman answered, not even looking at her. Before Nora could respond, the door suddenly opened and the guard ran through, leaving Batman and Nora to follow.

They turned a corner and Nora froze in her tracks.

A large window marked Decontamination looked out into a long tiled room with multiple showers. A number of Arkham guards were clustered around the window, banging on the glass, and gasping for breath. The room was filling with a noxious green cloud, and the guards were succumbing even as they held their mouths closed. As Nora watched, they all started laughing, their faces contorted into gruesome grins. Then they fell out of view of the window, with one guard grasping at the glass enough that his hand squeaked chillingly down the glass.

"They're dying in there!" Nora said, pulling out Magnhild and shifting it to a hammer. "We have to get them out."

"If you break that window, we all die!" snapped Batman, glaring at her. "That room if filled with Joker Toxin."

"We can't just do nothing!" yelled Nora, looking around for a way to get inside. An open shaft in the ceiling caught her eye and she jumped straight up into the shaft.

"Nora, slow down! I'm coming!" she heard Batman say, but she had already torn off another vent cover and crawled inside.

After a few turns through the vent, she came out onto a platform high above the floor of the decontamination room. The gas was staying low in the room, so Nora could breathe alright.

"Help!" came a strained voice. "Please help me!" An Arkham guard was desperately hanging from the platform she stood upon.

"It's okay. I got you," said Nora, grabbing the man by the collar and lifting him onto the platform.

"Oh, thank God," the guard gasped. "Steve is up on that platform. You have to help him!"

Nora followed his gaze to where a second guard was hanging from a bank of air ducts. She was about to jump after him before Batman again seemed to appear right next to her and fire a cable into the ceiling above where the man hung. The Dark Knight reeled himself up to the bank of air ducts and helped the man onto stable footing. Batman looked around for a moment before beckoning Nora over to him. She grinned and took a few steps back before getting a running start and jumping to land on the higher platform.

"What's up, Bats?" she asked. "How do we get rid of the gas?"

"There's a fan control console down on the ground floor. If I can hit it, I can turn on the fans and clear this room." He reached into his belt and pulled out some sort of bat-shaped throwing weapon. He pointed to a covered area of the decontamination room, the surface on top just high enough to avoid the Joker Toxin. "There's a man over there. I need you to save him."

"You got it!" Nora said with a salute before running to the end of the surface and leaping to her destination. She landed in a roll and walked to the edge of the platform before looking down at the man she was to save.

To her surprise, instead of a guard, he was an inmate.

"That son of a bitch left me here!" he yelled. "Please help! I'm gonna fall!"

Nora didn't move. Her eyes locked on his before she turned to look at all of the dead guards on the floor of the room.

 _He helped make this happen,_ a part of her said. _He helped kill those men._

For a few long moments, Nora just stood there, watching him.

 _What would Ren do?_

She sighed and rolled her eyes before bending down and grabbing the collar of his jumpsuit. Without any visible effort, she stood up again and lifted him into the air. He looked at her with a grateful, but still terrified gaze.

"Thank you!" he said. "Thank you so much! I thought I was gonna-"

Nora punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious and shutting him up. Then, with exaggerated care, she laid him out on the platform.

There was a rustling sound from behind before Batman walked up next to her.

"Well done," he said. Nora nodded

"You knew he was an inmate," said Nora. It wasn't really a question.

"Yes," answered Batman. He turned from her and threw the weapon in his hand. It streaked through the air before striking a metal box set into the wall. Instantly, a series of large fans came to life, venting the area of Joker Toxin and disengaging the decontamination locks.

"We need to move," Batman said as the noxious green gas finally cleared. He leapt down from the platform and strode toward the door at the far end, leaving Nora to follow after him. The door opened for them and they walked out into another metal hallway.

" _Well hurry it up!"_ came the Joker's voice over the PA system. " _I_ _'m so close, you could almost taste me!_ "

"Uh… eww," said Nora. The two continued down the corridor, coming closer and closer to a corridor.

" _Hey Bats, I_ _'ve got an idea for a game. Let's reenact the Three Little Pigs. I'll huff and puff…_ " Nora suddenly heard lots of metallic clicks from down the hall as she and Batman turned the corner. At the end of the next hall, in front of a door emblazoned with a neon green painting of the Joker's face, were a group of four inmates armed with assault rifles.

" _And these guys will blow you away!"_

"Get back!" snapped Batman, grabbing Nora and yanking her back around the corner just as the inmates opened fire. Bullets impacted the wall as the hallway roared with gunshots.

"When the heck did they get guns?!" asked Nora.

"They must have taken those weapons from the guards," Batman responded, gritting his teeth. "We'll have to try and get around them." He put his fingers to his ear. "Oracle, I need you to send me schematics of the Arkham Intensive Treatment building." A long moment passed as Batman waited whatever his friend was sending him and the bad guys eventually stopped firing to wait for them to show themselves.

Nora's foot started to tap. She was getting anxious.

Finally, a small holographic screen appeared from his glove, featuring a cross section of the buildings. "Okay…" he said, staring at the blueprints as Nora crouched next to him, "we'll have to cut back across Intensive Treatment to the main entrance."

"Seriously?!" whined Nora.

"Yes," said Batman, narrowing his eyes at her before turning back to the hologram. "From there, we can use the duct system there to come back around and end up right behind them and-"

"BORED NOW!" yelled Nora as she leapt to her feet. "I'll deal with this myself!"

Then she turned the corner and sprinted down the hall.

She kept herself bent low to the ground as the inmates yelled upon seeing her and began bringing their weapons to bear. When the gunfire began, she began dashing in a serpentine pattern. Her eyes were focused on the inmates as bullets impacted the floors and walls around her. A few bullets glanced off of her Aura, but she barely felt them.

As she further closed the distance, she ran at one of the walls and took a few strides along it before bunching up her legs and propelling herself at the inmates. One of them only had time to cry out in surprise before her fist slammed into his face and he was sent flying into the opposite wall. She kicked another in the gut as a third tried to bash her in the face with his rifle. She caught the body of the gun and squeezed, crushing the metal under her fingers. She heard the final inmate coming up behind her and she tore the magazine out of the ruined weapon and spun on her heel, smacking the fourth man across the face with it. She twisted back around and punched out the man in her grasp before mule kicking the discombobulated assailant behind her, sending him into the door and then to the ground.

As quickly as it had begun, everything was still.

"We're clear," she said. She turned down the hallway to see Batman was halfway to her. He was glaring at her and slowly shaking his head. He folded his arms and stared down at her.

"What?" asked Nora.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded. "Were you _even_ thinking? You ignored my orders and ran right into a firing line. You could have been killed."

"Well I wasn't!" she snapped. "Look at me. Not a scratch." She turned in place so he could get a full picture. "And newsflash, pal, running into dangerous situations is _literally_ my job! Also, we're supposed to finish this up quickly so you can help me find Ren and we can't do that if we spend all night going in circles! Now can we just grab that clown so we can find Ren and my friends?!" She spun around and walked toward the door, which opened for her.

The other side of the room was dominated by a long drop down a shaft and a large metal box dangling over it from a chain. Standing atop this box was the very clown they were looking for. Nora glared as she pointed at him.

"The jig is up, you jaded, jug-headed, jittery, jack-in-the-box!" she yelled.

There was a pause before the Joker started giggling.

"Oh God, Bats, I love this one so much!" he practically squealed as he danced in place. "Can I have her? Please please please? I'll gladly trade you Harley!" Nora didn't even need to turn around to imagine the glare Batman was giving him. "Oh poo, you're no fun tonight, Bats. If not me, who are you left to play with?" He tapped his chin in thought for a moment before his face brightened. "Oh! I know! How about _this_ guy?!"

He stamped down on the box, causing a door in the front to open. Waiting within was… Nora took a few seconds to even process what she was seeing. It looked vaguely like the result one would get if they tried to combine a human with an Ursa, but then got bored with it and quit halfway through. It was an absolute monster of a human, with grotesquely enlarged muscles and odd bony spikes stabbing outward through its skin. Its left arm and right leg were quite skinny, disproportionate with the rest of its massive frame, and it stared at them with glowing green eyes. It snarled as it climbed out of the box and landed on the floor before them.

"Ooohh, he's a big one," cackled Joker, who seemed content to just watch the show.

"Bring it on," said Nora, unfolding her hammer. "I'll smash you down to size!" With a battle cry, she charged.

"Nora, wait!" she heard Batman say, but she continued anyway.

The creature before her snarled a challenge before clumsily swiping at her. Nora hopped over it's swing before bringing her hammer around, smashing it in the side the head and sending it reeling. It tripped over its own mismatched legs before catching itself on the wall and growling at her.

"Ooooh, you're so scary," Nora taunted, resting her elbow on the guardrail next to her. "I think Jaune's bunny slippers just ran for cover." She looked at Batman, who seemed to be glaring at her before his eyes suddenly widened.

"Nora, get away from the-"

The rest of his warning was lost as Nora suddenly heard a growl and was struck from behind, sending her rolling across the floor and into one of the concrete walls. Her head stopped spinning a few moments after the rest of her did, and she looked for what had attacked her.

There was a second one of those Joker creatures pulling itself over the railing. It was disfigured similarly to the first one, but the second had two incredibly muscular arms with tiny legs that were bent and broken at various angles.

"Well, whaddaya know?!" cheered the Joker. "He actually survived the fall. Got to admire the dedication of that guy. I would give him a raise if that was something I did."

Mismatch and Arm-man, as her mind labeled the two creatures, both roared at them and charged, with Arm-man ambling on his knuckles as his legs trailed uselessly behind him.

"Dibs on Arm-man!" Nora shouted before charging to battle. The creature awkwardly lunged at her and only managed to faceplant into the floor when she jumped over him. She spun in midair, bringing her hammer down on the center of his back with a loud THUD! Nora thought that she might have taken him down before the creature backhanded her away and started crawling in her direction. A quick glance in Batman's direction showed that he was riding on the back of his monster with his arms crossed around the creature's throat.

Before she could refocus her attention, Nora was caught off guard when a meaty hand grabbed a hold of her leg. Before Arm-man could throw her or hit her or do anything else, she bared her teeth at him and raised her hammer over her head.

"Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!" she shouted, hitting the creature on the head Magnhild to punctuate each command. On the last one, he finally passed out and released his grip on her. "Nighty-night," Nora said victoriously.

There was the sound of an impact and Batman suddenly went flying past her before skidding to a stop on the floor. Nora looked over her shoulder to see Mismatch breathing hard and lumbering toward her. Nora quietly sighed before hefting her hammer into a fighting stance.

"I guess I'll take care of you too," she said.

Mismatch made it only two steps closer to Nora before he suddenly stopped, grabbed at his chest, and collapsed forward. Nora blinked for a moment before shrugging and collapsing her weapon.

"I think we're done, Batman," she said, turning around to where he was pushing himself to his feet. She looked back at the hanging cage to where Joker was still smiling like a loon. "We'll just grab him and call it a-"

"Nora! Move!" Batman shouted.

Nora blinked in surprise. Why did she have to move? They had won, right?

She noticed movement in the corner of her eye and saw Mismatch had risen to his knees. His small left arm was barely supporting him but his beefy right arm stretched out toward her. Time seemed to slow as his fingers inched closer and closer to her face. Her hands went for her hammer, but she wasn't fast enough.

Suddenly, she was roughly shoved to the side as Batman seemed to appear next to her. Just as she was sent flying out of the way, Mismatch's hand clamped around Batman's left arm.

Just before Nora hit the ground, she heard a sharp SNAP as Batman's left arm broke within the monster's grasp.

As Batman groaned in pain and tried to free himself from Mismatch's grip, the creature stiffened before the light faded from its eyes and it finally collapsed for good, pulling Batman to the ground with him.

"Oh no!" Nora gasped in a moment of shock. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" She scrambled forward to Batman's side and began to pry the creature's hand open. Batman grunted in pain once more before Nora managed to free him, leaving the Dark Knight holding his left arm close to his chest. His gauntlet had been crushed and his forearm was sitting at a grotesque angle.

"Well, now," giggled Joker, making Nora glare up at him. "That was fun, wasn't it? Even got a little interesting there at the end! Hee hee hee! I'd hate to think about what might happen to poor ole Batsy if that guy didn't have a heart attack." He started massaging his brow. "Note to self," he muttered quietly, "need to find some tougher test subjects." When he looked back at the pair of them, he gave a wide grin. "Okay Batsy, Shortstack, how's about a conciliation prize?" He stepped up to the edge of the cage and held his arms out to the sides. "I'll give you this one for free," he said with a smirk. "Knock me off. Send me to the depths, pull the plug, end this, stop me once and for all! I dare you!"

An instant later, Nora was pulling Magnhild from her belt and leveling it right at Joker.

"No!" shouted Batman, pushing the barrel of Magnhild toward the ceiling just when Nora's finger was beginning to squeeze the trigger. "Not like this," he said.

"Oh, _come on_ , Bats!" groaned the Joker as he lowered his arms. "This kid has to be the most entertaining sidekick who's ever tagged along with our playdates, but you just keep being a buzzkill! I know that Birdboy wouldn't be willing to blow me to smithereens, so could you stop ruining my fun and hers?!" He sighed before pulling a remote out of his jacket and pushing a button. Motors came to life as the cage he stood on was taken away through a sliding steel door. "Well, I have a party to organize. I have guests coming from _all_ over Arkham, and each of them is looking forward to seeing you. The three of us are in for a fun night, mark my words! Ha-hahahaha-ha!" The sound of his laughter died as the doors slammed shut.

The room was silent before Nora dropped her weapon and stared at her hands. Had she almost… she was ready to…

Her body started trembling as she crossed her arms tight across her chest. She felt like she might be sick. She wanted this night to end. She wanted to be with her friends. She wanted to be with Ren. A single tear trailed down her cheek before she felt Batman lay a hand on her shoulder. Feeling scared at what she might see, she glanced over at him only to see that he was looking at her with understanding. He didn't say a word, only squeezing her shoulder and giving her a nod.

Nora sniffled a moment before she nodded back. When she looked again at Batman's broken arm, resting at almost a twenty-degree angle, she stood up and made her way to one of the walls. A pair of thin lead pipes were torn from the wall, releasing a gout of steam that barely phased her, and a length of wire was ripped out from the power line leading to one of the wall lights. Tucking her supplies under her arm, she walked back to where Batman crouched by the dead Mismatch.

"Can you get the gauntlet off?" she asked. Batman started fiddling with his gauntlet, wincing as his movements jostled his arm.

"The hinges are jammed," he answered.

"Alright. I'll be careful, then." She knelt down next to him and, with as much care as she could, peeled his gauntlet apart into two pieces and set them aside. "This might hurt a bit, but I know what I'm doing. Ren and I would do this for each other when we got hurt." She gently took Batman's arm and worked to set the bone back in place. Batman grimaced as she worked, but he didn't flinch even slightly. It took a few tries with her moving Batman's arm around to find the right spot, but eventually the two halves of his forearm were back where they were meant to be. After directing him to hold his arm in place, she crafted a makeshift splint from the pipes and wires. When it was secured tight, she stood up and took a step back. Her eyes dropped to the floor as her hands started fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm sorry for getting the way, I'm sorry for yelling at you, I'm sorry for almost… almost shooting…" Her body trembled again as she fell silent.

"I know you are," Batman said as he stood up. His eyes seemed to be going straight through Nora. "I understand that you're powerful, but this is a very dangerous scenario we're in. You can't let your guard down and you can't rush into danger. This _cannot_ happen again, Nora. You need to follow my orders." He turned to look where Joker had vanished. "Whatever Joker is planning, I need you to actually work with me if we're going to stop it. Is that something you are willing to do?" He turned to face her again. Nora nodded. "Good. Are you ready to go?"

Nora took a long breath before looking up at Batman. A new fire burned in her eyes as she set her jaw and nodded.

"I'm ready. Let's go teach that clown some manners."

* * *

 **AN: I was playing Arkham Asylum with my girlfriend recently and I was suddenly struck by the full realization of how absolutely broken Nora is going to be for this story and how absolutely fun it's going to be to write. However, this gives rise to a question that, from my viewpoint, has not really been addressed in the various Arkham RWBY stories: Why does the RWBY character need to be here? We've played the game, so we know that Batman can handle this by himself. I felt that if I want to toss Nora into this situation, the capabilities of the villains must be greater or the capabilities of the heroes must be lesser. As you can see above, I chose the later option.**

 **I've got a lot of great plans for this story that I hope you all enjoy. As I said in my Puddin chapter, I'll be taking November off to take part in NaNoWriMo. I'll update soon after that, though.**

 **I'll be in touch!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hello everyone! I am so sorry for my long absence. Lots of writer's block. Anyway, you will be pleased to know that I am resolving to follow and new upload schedule from now on. I'm going to be operating on a quarter system and trying to update every one of my stories at least once within a four-month period, starting from January. We'll see how this goes and I will hopefully get more material out for you.**

 **As always, infinite thanks to my lovely beta annbe11, without whom I would not be writing these words.**

 **And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!**

 **Chapter 5 - Batman and Nora**

Nora had just finished helping the wounded Dark Knight make a sling (using fabric ripped from the pants of defeated inmates) when an Arkham guard woke up in one of the side rooms of the transfer chamber.

"Are you alright?" Nora asked, noticing the guard was a little unsteady.

"I hurt all over, but I'll be fine in a bit," the guard said, wincing as he waved away her concerns. "The bigger question is what happened to Batman. Is there anything I can do?"

"Joker happened," Batman said simply, joining them. "We have to catch up with him. Where does that door lead?"

"Extreme Isolation," the guard said. "Only the hardest nut-cases get put there. That door is the only way in. I'll see what I can do to get it open." He limped over to the control panel and began working the console. A few moments later, he swore in irritation.

"What's wrong?" asked Nora.

"The main security loop is locked," he explained. "I don't have any control."

" _My word!_ _"_ came the voice of the Joker. " _I_ _'ve never had a situation so perfectly summed up in five words!_ "

Nora and Batman whirled in all directions, searching for the clown's hiding place before they both saw him on the TV screens.

" _Having trouble working with all that pretty security, Bats?"_ the Joker asked with a grin.

"Joker!" growled Batman, curling his uninjured hand into a fist.

" _Who were you expecting? Two-Face? Penguin?_ " asked Joker, looking a little insulted.

"We're going to find you, Joker!" snarled Nora, taking a step forward to glare at the screen.

" _Believe me, Shortstack, I can_ _'t wait! Still, I have some prep work to do before that happens. Be a little courteous and wait till I'm ready. Ta ta!_ " The insane clown started to walk offscreen before he stopped and turned back. " _Oh, I almost forgot! Just to make sure you don_ _'t interfere…_ "

He pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button, causing a screen behind him to turn on. It showed security camera footage of Commissioner Gordon and Officer Boles talking with the doctor and security guard that Nora and Batman had saved. Before their eyes, Boles pulled his gun and clubbed Gordon over the head with it before shooting the doctor and the guard in the head.

"No!" shouted Nora, just barely stopping herself from lunging at the screen. Batman clenched his jaw hard but said nothing.

" _Our dear old police commissioner is on his way to Harley as we speak,_ _"_ giggled the Joker. _"If I see you two getting too close to me, I'll send her the message to kill Gordon right then and there. What do you know? Maybe I'll livestream it, get some instant feedback. It might even start trending! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA!"_

Just like that, the video feed ended and silence settled over the entire room.

"Oh my God…" breathed the guard, looking like he was about to throw up. "He… Boles… the Commissioner… Oh god."

"We'll get him back," said Batman, glaring at the empty screen. "Come on," he said to Nora. "We need to keep moving."

"But we don't know where he took Jim," said Nora.

"We'll go back to where Gordon was taken," explained Batman. "From there, we'll search to clues to find where he was taken."

"O-okay," Nora said with a nod. "Sounds like a plan."

They both walked out of the transfer room, stepping over the unconscious inmates right outside. They had only made a few steps before Batman lifted his fingers to the ear-area of his helmet.

"I'm here, Oracle," he said.

"Oh! Your tech support!" said Nora. "Tell her hi for me. Hi, Oracle!" Batman turned away from her, listening to the voice on the other end. Nora scowled and crossed her arms. "Or just ignore me. Sure, go ahead. Keep acting like I'm not here," she muttered.

"Joker got away," Batman said to Oracle. "He's sealed himself off from us. He's got the Commissioner." He paused. "Don't worry, Oracle. I'm getting him back. I promise. I won't let Joker win." Another pause. "My arm is broken, but I have assistance. Make sure Robin stays where he is. I need him in Gotham in case news of the breakout hits the media. I'll stay in contact." Batman clicked off his communicator.

"I'd like to introduce myself to your tech support sometime," grumbled Nora, looking sidelong at Batman.

"We'll see if you earn that privilege," he responded. Nora gave him a flat look but decided to move on.

"How's your arm?"

"It will be okay," he said, pulling a syringe out of a compartment on his belt before injecting it into his injured arm. "That should speed up the healing process."

"Yeah," Nora said with a nod. "Broken bones take a while to heal, even with Aura."

Batman came to a stop.

"What's Aura?" he asked. Nora froze as she stared at him.

"You don't know about Aura?" she asked, dumbfounded. What was _wrong_ with this town?! They had no idea what Aura was, they didn't know where Mistral was, and they didn't even know about the Grimm!

What was wrong with the people in this city? Was this the place where Jaune grew up or something?!

Nora instantly discarded that thought. Her comic-lover of a team leader would never forget to mention if his hometown had an actual superhero in it.

As Batman stared down at her, Nora waffled. She also pancaked, flap-jacked, and maybe even fried toasted.

"Um… I've never had to explain this before," she said, wringing her hands. "Plus, I usually leave the explaining thing to Ren. Anyway, Aura is a… a manifestation of our souls. It's a source of power we can use. It strengthens us and protects us. Huntsmen and Huntresses use it to fight the Grimm."

Pyrrha had made Nora memorize that from their textbook so she would stop saying things like 'It lets us stomp monster-butt!'

"And what are the Grimm?"

Nora made a face. She should have known this question was coming."They're monsters. Creatures without souls that are trying to drive humanity to extinction."

She shot a curious look at Batman. His straight face revealed nothing, but it seemed like this was new information to him. Why? He seemed like the type to know just about anything.

"Why does nobody here know what the Grimm are?" she asked. "You guys should be up to your necks in them by now, but you're not. Why is that?"

Batman was silent for a long time.

"I don't think we have Grimm here," he finally said. "Tell me more about this place you come from."

As the two of them continued making their way through the hallways, Nora told him about the kingdoms, the huntsmen academies, how Aura worked, and about the friends she was trying to find. Batman made only occasional comments, mostly listening with a curious look in his eyes. Nora never really prided herself on her ability to explain things, but she felt she did a good enough job.

"And Ren and I have been friends since we were kids," Nora finished with a smile. "He's the ninja while I'm the smashy one. We can take on anything as long as we're together." Her cheeks suddenly became pink. "Well, not exactly together-together. I mean, maybe we are, I'm not quite sure. We haven't really talked about it. Not that I don't want to or anything, I mean, he's really handsome and he really gets me and I get him and-"

"I get it, Nora," Batman said, peeking around a corner before waving her to follow him. "And based on what you've been telling me, I have an idea of where you came from."

"You do?!" cried Nora. "Tell me! Tell me!"

"Well," Batman said, "none of the creatures or kingdoms you talk about exist on Earth."

"Earth?" Nora asked, cocking her head.

"Exactly my point," Batman said. "I think you've found yourself on another planet."

Nora stared at Batman, her eyes widening to the size of the pancakes she loved so much. That information ran through her head, over and over, before coming to a single, stunning conclusion.

"YOU'RE AN ALIEN?!" Nora screamed in shock. Batman scowled at her.

" _You_ _'re_ the alien here, Nora."

She blinked.

"Ooooooohhhhhh…" said Nora after a moment of thought.

"Thankfully," Batman continued, "it shouldn't be too hard to find the place you came from. I have some associates who can help. Does Remnant have a Green Lantern?"

Nora blinked at him.

"Well… Vale and the other kingdoms had tons of lanterns," she said. "I'm sure that _some_ of them must have been green." What a weird question for a guy like him to ask.

Batman stared at her for a long moment before letting out a long exhale through his nose.

"Never mind," he said before continuing down the hallway. "Look sharp. We're almost there."

* * *

After traveling back through the halls of Intensive Care, Batman walked into the office that they had left Gordon and Boles. Things had changed drastically in the last…

 _Has it really only been twenty minutes?_ Batman thought. _It feels like hours._

Batman shook his head clear of useless thoughts and calibrated his cowl to register the room as a crime scene. His gaze fell on the two lifeless bodies of the men he and Nora had saved such a short time ago. He sighed but looked away to search the scene for clues. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nora about to enter the room from behind him.

"Don't come in, Nora," he said over his shoulder. "It's not pleasant."

"I've seen death before," Nora said, walking into the room and looking sadly down at the bodies. "Just not so much in one night." She stayed silent for a moment before looking over at him. "What are we looking for?"

"Something out of place," he answered.

A few moments later, he found it. A metal flask was sitting in the corner of the room with cheap bourbon dripping onto the floor. With a few calibrations, his investigation was done.

"We have a trail," he said.

"What? How?" asked Nora, looking confused.

"This flask belongs to Boles. I scanned the alcohol and I can pick up traces in the air," Batman explained. "We can follow the trail right to Boles, and presumably the Commissioner."

"You can _do_ that?!" said Nora, her jaw dropping open.

"Yes. Now let's get moving."

"Right behind you, Batman."

The pair of them followed the trail of alcohol in the air, twisting through the halls of Intensive Care. They ran into the occasional group of inmates, all of whom had a surge of misplaced confidence when they saw Batman's broken arm. He and Nora were quick to show them their error in judgment.

Eventually, they came to the elevator room, with the rusted metal shaft stretching upward, seeming almost endless.

"I am so glad we don't have to take the stairs," Nora said quietly as she stared up toward the ceiling.

A console was set to the side of the shaft and an Arkham guard was busy fiddling with the wires.

"Come on, come on!" he said to the console. "Work already."

Batman was opening his mouth to speak to him when a high-pitched giggle suddenly echoed through the room, making the guard jump in fright and take a few steps back. A figure darted from the shadows and suddenly Harley Quinn was reclining on the elevator counterweight, idly kicking her legs like a child.

"Uh, uh, uh, uh, B-man," she tutted, waggling her finger at him. "Mistah J's not quite ready for your party just yet." She giggled. "Besides," she said, pulling out a small remote, "the elevator is out of order."

She clicked the remote. Far above them was a fiery explosion, followed by the sound of shrieking metal slowly getting louder. With a demented giggle, Harley's counterweight was pulled up the shaft and quickly ascended out of sight.

Instead, Batman saw the burning remains of the elevator car falling toward them.

"MOVE!" he shouted. Nora took a flying leap to where the guard was standing dumbfounded before grabbing him and hauling backward, getting them both away from the impact point. Batman jumped in front of them and held up his cape as a shield. The elevator landed with an enormous crash, launching shards of metal shrapnel everywhere. Batman felt more than a few shards impact his cape, but the reinforced fabric held. When things went quiet again, all three of them stood up.

"That lady is starting to get on my nerves," grumbled Nora, glaring up toward the ceiling. "So, she thinks we're stuck here?"

"She never was very bright," Batman said, pulling out his grappling hook and aiming it upward. The line shot up into the shadows before pulling taut and lifting him upward.

"When am I gonna get one of those?!" demanded Nora from the ground floor. When Batman did not give her an answer, she rolled her eyes and started climbing after him. She bounced from perch to perch, digging her fingers into the concrete walls for a few moments before flinging herself toward the next handhold.

Perfect. Batman had a few moments to himself. He lifted his good hand to the side of his cowl.

"Oracle, do you copy?"

" _I_ _'m here, Bruce,_ " said Barbara. " _Um_ _…I wanted to ask… what happened to your arm?_ "

"Ran into some sort of giant mutants Joker made. One of them broke my arm."

" _Oh god! Are sure I shouldn_ _'t send Tim?_ "

"I'm certain," Batman snapped. "I've already found some help for the moment."

" _Right. Your mystery girl._ "

"Any results from the DNA scan I sent you? Any abnormalities?"

" _There_ _'s nothing,_ " answered Barbara. Batman blinked in surprise.

"Nothing? That doesn't make sense."

" _I_ _'m telling you, Bruce. That girl you're with is one hundred percent normal human. I even checked for any Amazon DNA markers and I still found nothing. No sign of any mutagens that could result in superpowers, either. I don't understand it."_

"You said she's a normal human?"

" _That_ _'s what the scan says. Sorry._ "

That meant that Nora wasn't an alien. In all likelihood, this meant she was from some sort of parallel Earth. A different problem than it had been before, but still not unsolvable.

" _Any sign of Dad?_ _"_ asked Barbara, bringing him back to reality.

"Not yet, but we're getting close," said Batman. "Harley tried to slow us down. Dropped an elevator on us."

" _Are you okay?_ " Barbara asked, worry evident in her voice.

"We're both fine," answered Batman. "I'll contact you again when we reach the end of the trail."

As Batman clicked off the com-line, he heard panting coming from over the edge of the platform he stood on. Slowly, Nora pulled herself up onto the edge and stood hunched over with her hands on her thighs.

"You… are… the worst…" Nora panted.

"Get your breath back quick," said Batman. "We're moving on."

"Okay…" said Nora as she straightened up. "Okay… I'm okay… let's go."

"Also, I have some news," said Batman, leading them down a hallway. "You're not from another planet."

"I'm not?" she asked. "But you said I was."

"You're from another dimension. Different circumstances entirely, but I can still help you get back."

"Oh good," Nora said as her shoulders slumped in relief.

 _She_ _'s taking this well,_ Batman thought with a hint of confusion. Regardless, they had to keep moving.

When they turned a corner, they found themselves at a stop. The trail of alcohol particles led to a large metal door, but the door was sealed and the console jammed. The only way forward was through a nearby air vent, which Nora was quick to tear the cover off of, allowing them to start crawling through the ducts.

As they reached the end of the ducts, they heard the sound of gunfire. The vent led out into the Cell Block Transfer corridor, where the gunfire was coming from. Batman observed the room with his detective vision and curled his hand into a fist when he saw all of the bodies of Arkham guards lying in front of three armed inmates.

"More inmates with weapons ahead," said Batman. He turned his head to look Nora dead in the face. "You need to follow my lead and do this quietly. Understood?"

"Understood," Nora said with a nod.

Batman returned her nod and quietly pushed the vent cover out of it's holdings. They both climbed out of the vent, safely out of view to the gun-wielding inmates. After taking a glance above at the numerous gargoyle sculptures along the wall, Batman pulled out his grappling hook launcher.

"Hold onto me," he said quietly. Nora wrapped her arms around his torso and held on. Using his launcher, Batman swung them up to the gargoyles and then maneuvered them so they safely dropped to the ground behind the unaware guards.

"Watch me," Batman mouthed to Nora before sneaking up on one of the inmates. He looped his right arm around the man's neck, closing off his airways, while a kick to the back of the man's knee threw off his balance enough for Batman to pin him to the ground. The inmate struggled for a few more moments before falling into unconsciousness. Batman looked back at Nora, seeing that she was watching him carefully, and inclined his head at the next thug. "Your turn," he mouthed. Nora nodded.

Her approach was well done. She was light on her feet and surprisingly stealthy, despite her wardrobe's alarming shade of pink. When she was close enough, she lunged forward and caught the inmate in a choke hold.

That was where things went wrong.

In his shock at being attacked, the inmate pulled the trigger of his weapon, causing three bullets to fire from his rifle. The bullets only hit the floor, but the damage was done. The last inmate spun around in Nora's direction, bringing his shotgun to bear. In another display of strength, Nora tossed her inmate aside like a ragdoll and charged at the alarmed henchman. Like before, she kept low to the ground to make herself a smaller target.

However, in such tight quarters and faced with a shotgun, that didn't really matter.

CHOOM!

Batman's eyes widened as the buckshot slammed into Nora's shoulder. She gave out a small cry as the force spun her around. Batman moved then, grabbing the inmate's head and slamming it into a pipe before he had the chance to cock his gun. As the man slumped to the floor, Batman turned back toward Nora. She had managed to keep her footing and had a hand clamped over her injured shoulder. Batman took a step toward her before he froze in surprise.

 _Where was the blood?_

"Ow-ow-ow-ow," groaned Nora as she stood up straight, massaging her shoulder before swinging her injured arm in slow circles. "That's gonna sting for a while."

Batman blinked. She was acting like she had just pulled a muscle, not taken an entire buckshot blast. Nora finally noticed him staring and gave him a blank look.

"What?" she asked. "I told you that Aura protects me, didn't I?"

Batman blinked and nodded.

"You did. I just didn't think it would extend to blocking bullets."

"Welp, we all learn something new every day," she said, giving him a smile. "C'mon, we should keep following the trail."

The door ahead of them was locked, leading to another detour through the air ducts for them. As they came out into the large space of the Entrance Station and Decontamination Chamber. Batman looked around the room, counting six gun-wielding inmates. Two of them were in the raised observation booth while the other four were arranged covering the front door on the opposite side of the room from him and Nora. Joker began 'encouraging' his men over the PA system, but Batman tuned out the clown's words and looked down at Nora.

"I have an idea on how to beat this," he told her. She nodded, giving him her full attention. "I think it would be best if you waited for me to get in position, then take down the two in the observation booth. If your Aura makes you durable, then you can get their attention while I take the rest of them out from behind. Can you do that?"

"You bet your pointy ears I can!" Nora said excitedly, giving him a salute. Batman nodded.

"Get up on that gargoyle and wait until I give you the signal."

With a blinding smile on her face, Nora started scrambling up the wall until she perched on the head of one of the gargoyles that rested above the observation booth. Batman quirked his brow, seeing that she seemed to be trying to strike a dramatic pose while she waited on him. Putting it out of his mind, he used his grappling hook to move from gargoyle to gargoyle until he perched directly above the other four inmates. He looked back to Nora and gave her a nod.

Without a moment of hesitation, Nora leaped from her perch, pulling out her warhammer and holding it aloft. At the last moment, she brought it down on the roof of the observation booth, smashing a large hole in it for her to drop through.

A second later, the windows of the booth exploded outward with an explosion of pink smoke.

Batman was stunned for a moment, but a glance with his detective vision showed that the two inmates in the booth were merely unconscious while Nora was still upright and lying in wait for the inmates below him. He could even hear her giggling from here.

As the now-shaken inmates began firing up at the observation booth, Batman let a long breath out through his nose. He had worked with all sorts in the past, but only a few times had he ever worked with someone like Nora.

Batman narrowed his eyes at the inmates under him. It was time to go to work.


End file.
